About Me

Meg Pokrass has stories in many magazines and her work has been Internationally anthologized, most recently in the Norton anthology "Flash Fiction International"(2015). Her books include Damn Sure Right; My Very End of the Universe (in Five Mini-Novellas-in-Flash and a Study of the Form, by Rose Metal Press); and Bird Envy (Harvard Bookstore bestseller). Her new flash fiction collection, forthcoming in 2016, is "The Dog Looks Happy Upside Down.” She is associate editor for Frederick Barthelme's New World Writing and founder of New Flash Fiction Review.

Thank you for your exuberant comment on Birds of Prayer 1. I just read Extinction and as usual am floored by your writing. I love how you have at least two things going on outside of, say, a romantic interlude. Here, the ecosystem, earth and universe collapsing. Somehow, you manage to include all that and the story still stays upbeat. Such gifts!

Hi Meg! Thanks for taking the time to read my post office piece and leave a comment. I know it sounds like a cliche, but "some of my best friends work for the postal service!" Actually one of them is a carrier and it has taken a toll on her body. My great grandfather was the last horse drawn carrier in Milwaukee in the early part of the 20th century. I know the story is written from a point of view that tends to make out the postal service as "the bad guy." However, I don't feel that way at all. In any case it does seem to strike a nerve with people. Thanks again!

Thank you thank you for saying detailed things about Zurich.
Also. Why does the Barry Graham post here from Sept 01 2008 define masturbation? The world is full of mysteries, with answers scribbled on a Taco Bell napkin.

Meg, how lovely you are, thank you SO much for those gorgeous messages you left on my story! How the devil are you? It's been ages.... And as for publishing more on Fictionaut, I'm actually resolved this year to publish less, hold back a little, regain the mystery that is me! ;)

Meg, thank you for your awesome comment on "Pieta." Though not consciously intended, your withdrawal comment linking sex, war, men, women, is right within the context of the poem. Thank you for adding to whole ominous scenario.

Thanks for your wise comment on "Poem Containing 'So,' 'And,' 'Such.'" Your comment made me think of the days (you're probably not old enough to have experienced this) when it seemed to ludicrous and ponderous to insist on being call "Ms."

Heh! It me. Wow, a STUNNING review at newpages for Damn Sure Right. Damn!!!!!!! Glad to see you so well. Me? Just sorta thumpin' along. So pleased to see your comments on that piece I put on here. Thanks much.

Hi Meg! Thanks for your suggestions on "Oaxaca Dreamland." I am going to try to flesh that story out some more and may indeed drop the fragments you mentioned in order to increase the tension in the story. Thanks again for your close reading and detailed feedback!

Hi Meg - Thanks for your comment on "Safa's Hair." It took a long time for me to settle into the second person on the piece but when I finally made the decision, many of the other details fell into place.

Meg - thanks for the comment on 'why do I" - Since I was combining Brooklyn buffoonery with California chic,I set it about half-way between. Your prompts are getting addictive, I need to start going to bed before you post them.

Thank you, ma'am, for the fave and the comments on "Over the rainbow blues." I know it's probably not a good idea for people to encourage me in my anachrocentricities, but damn it ... it feels so good when they do.

Hey, Meg, I'm not sure how the "wall" thing works here..so I wanted to be sure and say hello! I said hi on my profile thing but I don't know if that shows up for you, so...just wanted to say hi and I look forward to reading your stories here!

Meg, thank you kindly for your great comments on Gin And A Cowboy! So appreciated. I've cut more since I originally posted it, been fun getting to the true bones of this story. As always, your feedback is most welcomed!

Hey, thanks for taking the time to look again. Isn't it strange, the different faces a story can have for different people? I must be trying to see a face that isn't there. You, maybe, are seeing one that is.

Since you are working on Dog Park Moments it struck me you might enjoy "The Wolf in the Parlor" - Franklin. A fascinating "scientific" exploration of the dog/human relationship. I read dog books all the time and found this unlike any other.

Oh, just noticed your thanks for the "Drunk Elephant" fave... you're welcome. And I do regret my cruel assessment of that other piece on facebook. You're still one of my favorite flash writers and definitely my favorite editor. Take care.

Meg, my new friend, it was a pleasure to hear from you. I did wander over to the SF writer's group page here and saw that the reading had been scheduled - naturally, at a time and day when I will just not be able to make it work. I've got early and very energetic days saturday and sunday and damned if I'll let my first impression to such an esteemed cadre of writers be that of a catatonic dustbunny (by no mean coincidence, The Catatonic DustBunnies is the name of my nascent post-punk pre-pop band). My full apologies are on the group page. Meantime, per your 9/01 self-posted comment, I think in polite conversation it's called "interior decorating." But I think some pretty obtuse stuff sometimes.

Meg, thanks so much for your extremely generous comment on “We Have Eskimo Bars!” What you had to say about my comedic piece really put the zing in my day, and warmed my igloo. Thanks also for your fave. Much appreciated!

Meg, thanks for the Wow on "Ring, Ring, Ring." I just read your "The Serious Writer and her Pussy." Many laughs out loud, so of course I'll be looking for Damn Sure Right in February. Oh to be able to write flash fiction.

hey meg, quick question. what is the process for getting a story eligible for the weekly 5 pick? i have some published stuff to submit on my wall, not my greatest stuff by any means. the newer material i have coming out in Narrative and Tampa Review and Shamballha Sun are by far better than what i have posted as of now. plus, people don't like reading anything on here that isn't under 500 words it seems in the Fictionnaut/net'isonian world, which my stories never fall into. guess i'm old fashioned.

hey, u live in San Fransico. You might know Tom Jenks. He runs Narrative out there. He's a nice guy.

Strange and funny can also be serious, I think. Humor makes things stick in the reader's mind, right? Whereas some so-called "serious" fiction may be promptly forgotten. Who knows? I've been writing some flash lately, esp after staying up till dawn when things look weird and funny. I'm no expert on flash, but for me inspiration takes over, I see the story/scene whole, and my own intentions become irrelevant. If I even have any.

Hi Meg- The JMWW interview was great. Believe I may have posted a fb comment on someone's link but just wanted to say thanks again for being so open about both the experience and the work. "the things he thought would help" has stayed with me, and will.

Very glad you enjoyed 'A Woman Walks Into A Bar'. Your comments and fav are exciting and encouraging- Especially coming from someone
whose work I admire as much as I do yours.

Thanks again, Meg, for your great comments on "Hotel Chelsea Scene 2" ... What would you think about a novel/linked stories kind of thing, that's all like Hotel Chelsea, swinging back and forth in time to paint the narrator?

Hi, Meg! Thanks so much for the comment on "In the Pastel City." Really interesting idea to end it as you suggest. Always interested in radical paths. Thanks for reading.
P.S. Love all the exciting animation you're doing. You've inspired me!

Meg! thanks for your thumbs up on Elephant! And for the prompt in the first place! Elephants jumping or not jumping lumbered around in my head for a day or so, it was going to be all comedy and farce, and then this spilled out when I got down to it. So thank you for making something already so special to me (oh elephants!) find expression here.

Meg, I'm so glad you liked my "old codgers" story. Good to be in touch again! I have been neglecting Facebook, I'm afraid. I HAVE to pay a visit today. I'll put it at the top of my list. Well, no; lunch and a nap come first.

Thanks for commenting on Lover Come Back. I'm new here and yours was my first comment. I'm really glad you liked. But I'm so unsure of what to publish here that I deleted it before I noticed the e-mail informing me of your comment. I've added on to Lover Come Back and it gets sexually graphic. I'm not sure if it belongs here, or anywhere. Maybe I'll post it at the WordPress site untill I have a better idea of what to publish here. But I'm sorry I deleted the first part now.

Thanks, Meg, for reading Little Walter. And also bravo, bravo for the decision on the Horse Shrink stories. We are all better off here at the Naut for you having made that call. Look forward to reading more of them in the future. Take care.

Okay, this is one of my first experiments in writing on someone's wall in fictionaut. Are you supposed to respond when someone writes on your wall? If they thank you for something you said. If so, I've got terrible manners!

Meg, this is a great site, I'm having fun and reading some amazing fiction. I haven't joined any of the other sites. But this is entirely different and feels very "community" in the best sense. Thanks for your good words and support of my work!

Thanks, Meg. I've actually been here a little while, but I haven't been participating. I read occasionally (there's great stuff around), but as it seems largely to be a place for flash fiction and the short side of short stories, I've decided against posting my own work, which has been running longer lately.

Meg, Thanks for saying hello. I know of Molly -- have heard JH speak of her (all good!). I love Susan Minot, too. If I could choose any writer to write like it would be her. Unfortunately, I can't choose.

Thanks for the comments and fav for my story, Meg! Still trying to understand the best way to respond - my wall, your wall, message? It sure reads better to respond on your own wall, but will the poster see it?